Orange County’s median home price as of December 2016 was $665,000, an increase of $5,000 compared to November 2016, and an increase of $33,750 compared to December 2015 home prices. The housing market, especially in Orange County, is being watched closely considering the large fluctuations recently experienced in home prices as well as due to both domestic and international economic concerns. While the housing market continues to display strength, a rise in interest rates from the Fed, continued struggles by younger generations to accumulate their savings and preponderance for younger generations to favor rentals could negatively impact the housing market going into 2017.

The Orange County average rental rate in June 2016 decreased slightly to $2,001 – a decrease of $2 compared to the previous month yet an increase of $152 compared to the previous year. On a per-city basis, Orange and Anaheim had the highest year-over-year growth ($522 each) while Santa Ana large declines of $567 year-over-year. On a month-to-month basis, the average apartment rent in Orange experienced the largest increase, growing by $268 followed by Huntington Beach which increased by $38. The largest month-over-month decrease came from Fullerton and Anaheim which decreased by $114 and $99, respectively.

Orange County Building permit activity in October 2014 hit landmark highs with 1,892 permits granted during the month. So far, 2016 is experiencing seasonal highs in building permit activity registering 10,003 permits year-to-date. In November 2016, a total of 751 building permits were issued representing an increase of 3 permits month-over-month and an increase of 95 buildings permits year-over-year. Huntington Beach and Irvine provided the highest amount of new permits recorded during the month of November 2016 at 178 and 176, respectively.

This indicator shows the average apartment rent for major Orange
County cities and for the county average as a whole. The county
average as a whole is not the average of the seven cities shown
in this chart but for all the cities in Orange County.